BECHTELSVILLE — A full house is expected to be on hand for Grandview Speedway’s 50th anniversary awards banquet set to take place Saturday, Nov. 17.

For the fifth time in his immensely successful auto racing career, Duane Howard will be honored as the NASCAR 358 Modified champion. The banquet at the Gilbertsville Fire Company social hall will conclude the gold-anniversary season of auto racing at the Berks County clay oval, rated as one of the most successful weekly short track operations in the nation.

Howard (Oley) and car owner Chad Sinon will walk off with more than $10,000 for their championship-winning efforts, highlighted by nine feature wins for the Howard/Sinon/BPG Racing team. Howard had also earned $10,000 for being on top in the American Racer Cup championship.

Chuck Schutz (Pottstown) will take home the championship honors for the sixth time in the NASCAR Late Model division, as well as the NASCAR National honors in the Titlelist Division II Dirt standings.

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And Jared Umbenhauer will be honored as the NASCAR Sportsman champion as the division celebrates a successful first season of racing at Grandview Speedway. Brad Brightbill has earned NASCAR National honors in the Titlelist Division III Dirt standings.

Howard, Schutz and Brightbill have been invited to be part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards Banquet at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. in early December.

Howard has also earned a guaranteed starting spot in the UNOH Battle at the Beach at Daytona International Speedway (Feb. 18-19), featuring the stars of NASCAR’s regional and touring series. That includes the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, which is featured at Grandview Speedway.

In addition to the champions, the top 20 drivers and top 10 owners in each division will be honored. A variety of special awards will also be presented to outstanding performers.

UNITED RACING CLUB

Planning for the 66th season of the United Racing Company is well under way, with race dates actively being booked for the 2013 season.

Bar’s Leaks will be returning for its 18th season with URC as their Rislone product will once again be attached to the 2013 URC season. URC is pleased to announced it will be returning to the Bedford (Pa.) Speedway Friday night, May 10. URC first visited the fast half-mile oval in 1956; and through the years, URC has presented some 22 events at the Western Pennsylvania speedway.

“The URC sprints have been of Bedford Speedway history dating back to the 1950’s,” speedway promoter Joe Padula said, “and we are thrilled to have them back after a two-year absence at the big track. The URC sprints have always put on a great show at Bedford, and I look forward to seeing them in 2013”.

URC’s last visit to Bedford was Aug. 20, 2010, and Bill Unglert was the feature winner.

The Bedford Speedway May 10 event will showcase the URC sprints joined by the Super Late Models, Semi Lates and the Pure Stock Four Cylinders. Gates will open at 5 p.m., with race time set for 7:30 p.m. More information on the Bedford Speedway is available at its website: www.bedfordspeedway.com.

Also returning to the 2013 Rislone URC Sprint Series schedule are the Winchester and Potomac speedways. URC enjoyed a popular stop at the Winchester (Va.) Speedway in 2012, with Ed Aikin scoring a very impressive win before a huge crowd. The visit to Winchester will take place Saturday night, June 22.

On Friday night, July 26, URC will visit the Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek, Md. This track was on the 2012 URC schedule, but was cancelled due to rain. URC last visited the Potomac Speedway back in 2000.

The 2013 Rislone URC Sprint Series schedule is forming nicely, to also include dates at Williams Grove, Lincoln, Selinsgrove, Port Royal, Grandview, New Egypt, Delaware International and the Black Rock Speedway. URC is in contact with several other speedways with interest as well.

Defending driver champion Robbie Stillwaggon and owner champion Fred Kennedy will be returning to URC in 2013 to defend their championship. Stillwaggon and Kennedy were in a heated battle for the 2012 championship with Davie Franek and clinched the title in the URC season finale at the Grandview Speedway. That event, the Pioneer Pole Building $3,000 to win feature, saw Art Liedl capture his first career URC victory.